Wizards of the Coast Re-Registers Dark Sun With USPTO

Wizards of the Coast recently filed an application to register Dark Sun in the US, a sign that D&D could be bringing back the campaign setting in the near future. The trademark claim was filed on October 13th, 2025 and is poised to replace a previous trademark that was cancelled by the USPTO in 2024. The trademark, like most involving D&D properties, covers both "downloadable electronic games," "games and playthings," and "entertainment services." Similar active trademarks exist for other D&D campaign settings such as Spelljammer and Forgotten Realms, although neither of those have lapsed in recent years.

We'll note that, as the previous Dark Sun trademark lapsed a year ago, this could be a case of simple paperwork, or it could be the latest sign that a Dark Sun product is eminent. Earlier this year, Wizards released an Unearthed Arcana for the Psion class and several subclasses that all but spelled out a return to the setting, complete with mentions of sorcerer-kings, gladiatorial fights, and preservers and defilers.

 

[Parmandur]

I disagree. I think a single book along the lines of the new FR "Heroes" book or the Eberron book would be enough. Darksun's setting is a lot less expansive than the FR's Faerûn and would require less space to properly detail the setting. Though, I'm not against it getting the two-book treatment.

Yeah, I think Dark Sun in 320 pages in a format similar to combining the two FR books would be plenty.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Of course each group can have got their own continuity. For example some DM could redesign the region of Tyr adding more city-states because in the new timeline Rajaat had to choose more champions against "new" species like the dromites. Maybe those species could survive the cleasing war because the champions bet a different strategy. A planar gate was opened allowing the evacuation. Would Rajaat allow this? Yes because it was faster and confortable if those would rather to go away willing.

Each tabletop could give their own retcon to the setting, and that would be OK. We haven't to follow faithfully the canon.

Elemental drakes are canon in DS. Maybe this could cause the aparition of elemental dragonborns due mutations of wild humanoids living too near.

After the fall of several sorcerer-kings in the novels the setting could need iconic villains, not only new monsters, but it isn't easy to explain how these could become so powerful if Borys the dragon of Tyr could detect their growing power-level.

* Maybe there is a way to add more sorcerer-king with a right explanation as to why they did not appear in the novels. Some defilers become very powerful but chose to escape toward the "land-within-the-wind" (Athasian Feywild). There they could conquer and rule their own empires but their domains "lost their tuning" with the rest of the plane, causing a planar shatering and becoming demiplanes, maybe within the "Grey" (or "Greymist"). Borys could have attacked them but he chose a different option, to use those domains like "shields" or cosmic firewalls against planar intruders.

* Let's imagine a deity from other world is punished and then this is sent to Athas where this teorically should lose the divine power but this is not totally true. This keeps the range or quasi-deity or legendary hero, and she can work like a "living vortice", allowing their loyal templars to cast divine magic.

* I suggest WotC to publish a DLC about a mash-up of Dark Sun and Dragonlance settings being mixed

* I hope stats for land-sailing vehicles.

 

[Superchunk77]

So the new Astarion and Netheril books send the majority of this conversation to a farm upstate XD. WotC isn't afraid of going dark, guys lol.

Why? Give me examples please.

 

[Hussar]

* I suggest WotC to publish a DLC about a mash-up of Dark Sun and Dragonlance settings being mixed

Why would you ever want to mix those two particular settings? They share nothing thematically. Like, literally nothing.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Why would you ever want to mix those two particular settings?

Mutual annihilation?

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Cover of "Wild Elves" for Dragonlance by Brom.

Why to mix two different settings? Because lots of players recycle elements from the official settings for their homemade world. You can "borrow" elements from the sourcebooks, but you enjoy enough creative freedom to add your own ideas, for example species or classes that could be banned in the official setting. Maybe it is only a stupid excuse to sell limited-edition merchandising (for example a poster of Raistlin with tribal tatoos on the face or skins for Fortnite) but if it was unlocked in DMGuild we could find some surprise in the future.

Some times to have an orignal idea we need a brainstorm where we mix lot of different elements.

Or maybe this patch-world is the battlefield of different factions of chronomancer guilds, something style TVA vs league of Kangs



* If the time-travel is officially possible in DS, could the brown-tide to be avoided? Or Rajaat to be killed before this planned the cleasing war. But maybe killing Rajaat would be useless because the true cause wasn't him but the Pristine Tower. If Rajaat was been killed then the Pristine Tower had "tainted" other pyreen. Or maybe there is an alternate timeline where the brown-tide didn't happen but Athas was invaded by the aboleths.

Or maybe there is an alternate timeline where the champions of Rajaat rebelled before starting the cleasing war.

* Could the "coldwood" from the article "Arcana Botanica" in Dragon magazine #357 be planted in Athas to replace metal? And could the flora from the demiplane or quasielemental plane of thorns (wood+negative energy) survive in the Deathlands?

 

[tetrasodium]

Cover of "Wild Elves" for Dragonlance by Brom.
View attachment 422007

Why to mix two different settings? Because lots of players recycle elements from the official settings for their homemade world. You can "borrow" elements from the sourcebooks, but you enjoy enough creative freedom to add your own ideas, for example species or classes that could be banned in the official setting. Maybe it is only a stupid excuse to sell limited-edition merchandising (for example a poster of Raistlin with tribal tatoos on the face or skins for Fortnite) but if it was unlocked in DMGuild we could find some surprise in the future.

Some times to have an orignal idea we need a brainstorm where we mix lot of different elements.

Or maybe this patch-world is the battlefield of different factions of chronomancer guilds, something style TVA vs league of Kangs



* If the time-travel is officially possible in DS, could the brown-tide to be avoided? Or Rajaat to be killed before this planned the cleasing war. But maybe killing Rajaat would be useless because the true cause wasn't him but the Pristine Tower. If Rajaat was been killed then the Pristine Tower had "tainted" other pyreen. Or maybe there is an alternate timeline where the brown-tide didn't happen but Athas was invaded by the aboleths.

Or maybe there is an alternate timeline where the champions of Rajaat rebelled before starting the cleasing war.

* Could the "coldwood" from the article "Arcana Botanica" in Dragon magazine #357 be planted in Athas to replace metal? And could the flora from the demiplane or quasielemental plane of thorns (wood+negative energy) survive in the Deathlands?

There are no easy solutions and trying for those should be expected to cause new problems. I love that the time travel one is even accounted for before players might consider wish retcon.

Spoiler

66th King's Age (-9.569 to -9.549)
Wind's Defiance (-9.659): Mareet, ruler of Saragar, is visited by a time-traveler from the future. He tells the king an appending doom to Athas before disappearing. Obsessed with the warning, Mareet orders his most powerful psionicists to breach the time stream and determine the nature of the warning. They are later joined by a third psionicist.

History

darksun.fandom.com

Instead of avoiding the whole thing it just created a new power with new problems to puzzle out. Makes for a nice "that's what you did now moving on"